title: Application of tele-ultrasound in emergency medical services.
abstract: In emergency medical services, portable ultrasound scanners have the potential to become new-age stethoscopes for emergency physicians. For trauma cases in particular, portable ultrasound scanners can scan the chest and abdomen of emergency patients both rapidly and conveniently. This study describes the development of tele-ultrasound for pre-diagnosis in a medical emergency setting as a part of the updated Mobile Hospital Emergency Medical System (MHEMS). An emergency medical technician can provide an emergency physician with a patient's ultrasound images and medical information during the patient's pre-hospitalization and transportation period using a combination of the MHEMS, the portable ultrasound scanner, and the onboard 3G communication capabilities. The MHEMS includes a Dispatch and Mission Control Center that facilitates the communication between the Emergency Department of a specified hospital, the systems aboard the ambulance. Early receipt of information relevant to the patient will enhance pre-diagnosis options for on-duty emergency physicians and allow for a hospital's emergency department to promptly prepare necessary surgical instruments or beds. Furthermore, emergency medical technicians can also obtain instructions from on-duty physicians to enhance damage and disaster control ability in critical moments.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Electronic Engineering, College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Mei-Ju
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Huei-Ming
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Chow-In
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Wen-Chu
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.forename: Chih-Wei
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Sao-Jie
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Heng-Shuen
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D004631:Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004634:Emergency Medical Technicians; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration; D004638:Emergency Treatment / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013685:Telecommunications; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data